Horse racing: Musselburgh faces inspection

THIS afternoon’s National Hunt fixture at Musselburgh is subject to a precautionary inspection at 7am.

Conditions at the East Lothian track are perfectly raceable at present but as there was a chance that temperatures could dip below freezing last night, general manager Bill Farnsworth feels it is worth checking conditions early this morning.

He said: “We are forecast temperatures of zero, possibly going down to minus 1C. It is due to get up to plus 2C or plus 3C during Monday and if that forecast is right, then we’ll be fine. We just thought it was sensible to have a look to put people on alert and trainers can see what’s happening in the morning. Fingers crossed, we should be all right.”

If the meeting gets the go-ahead, Bridlingtonbygones can exploit a lenient-looking mark in the Racing UK Handicap Hurdle.

The Karen McLintock-trained six-year-old is winless from six previous tries over hurdles, but has shown enough promise to warrant support in East Lothian.

Perhaps crucially, he must surely have enough ammunition to be competitive off just 110.

Bridlingtonbygones made a perfect racecourse debut two years ago when successful at this track in what turned out to be a fair bumper.

His novice year over hurdles also served notice of his worth, especially when his two second-placed finishes at Sedgefield, where he chased home the smart duo of Scriptwriter and Pure Faith, are factored into the equation.

A course-and-distance fifth on his return on 5 November was perfectly satisfactory, followed by the same position at Market Rasen a couple of weeks later.

Context is required for his outing in Lincolnshire as he was a casualty of attempting to keep track of what became an overly-brisk gallop.

Although it was no surprise to see him fade out of contention, McLintock must surely have been spiked with optimism for the winter. That underrated run also appears to have caught the handicapper unawares as he has been relieved of another 2lb. With conditions just about ideal and the sharp characteristics of Musselburgh having suited in the past, Bridlingtonbygones is a confident selection.

Angel Sun is also on the upgrade, and looks a shot to nothing for division one of the Buy Your 2012 Annual Members Badge Today Maiden Hurdle. The Ferdy Murphy trained five-year-old made stealthy progress at Sedgefield last time after finishing a close sixth on his hurdling bow at Aintree. Despite being sent off at 20-1 on his second stab over flights, Angel Sun galloped on strongly from off the pace to take second spot behind a nice horse from Nicky Richards’ stables. Murphy’s inmate clearly has a lot of pace, not to mention agility over hurdles, so should be well suited by haring around Musselburgh.